Entity
by JaneOfAustin
Summary: I am telling you a story about myself, my leader and the people living inside my physical shell. My name is Sunagakure. Welcome to my place, which full of brave souls and tragedies. (First time to write a long story in English, which is not my native language. Please forgive me for the grammar mistakes that might occur)
1. Chapter 1

I do not sure if I am alive because I am not a human.

I was born after my creator heard the news about a village belongs to shinobi was established in the Land of Fire. He was lying on a bed spotted with dry blood from unknown person or people, trying to get some rest from a cutting-throat battle for a spring when he heard this news. At the moment he was inspirited to build a shinobi village for the land of Wind, I was born.

My creator called me Sunagakure. His followers often called him Kazekage Sama or Shodai Sama after he gave me my physical image—a hay yellow village made up with mushroom shaped buildings. Nobody remembered his real name, including his family and himself. Only I remember he was called Akuira when he was 25 years old.

Akuira forced the other shinobi tribes obey his order with his overwhelming power. However, his power could not help him in defeating the horrible desert environment. I never have enough water to support all the tribes obeying Akuira. The water layer under my physical shape can merely support for drinking, laundering, and basic sanitation, but not agriculture. Akuira then abandoned he initial decision of making me as strong as Konohagakure. He shaped me into an intermediating institute between desert shinobi tribes and the main political power in the Land of Wind. He told me this special position would give me great advantages politically and financially.

My dear Akuira, he loved me with his soul. Although he seldom talked to me, I could always see myself shadowing in his dark eyes in the form of a young boy, just like his first son chocked to death by sand in a sandstorm. Sometimes, he would called me Suna softly with his low voice. I always want to hug him when he called me Suna, but I cannot touch him because I am not a human. I exist because Akuira and his follower believed me exist. If no one believes me, I will disappear. I will not die, because I never live.

Poor Akuira, he died at his 42. I think I killed him, my beloved Akuira. My existence fits in a power gap between the Daimyo and the shinobi tribes. I possesses huge benefits as Akuira expected. However, what I possesses droved out greediness deep inside human hearts. Several strong tribes weaved a conspiracy. I tried to tell Akuira that his dearest friends betrayed him but he was too far from my power. Those men, who helped Akuira shaping me poisoned my love after he brought back huge cash for my development by deterring other shinobi villages with Shukaku.

I was nearly torn into pieces by the turmoil after Akuira's death. In that 305 days, the time my builders fought for the right to possess me, I was in great pain every second. I did not know what I will be in the future. I asked myself countless times if I would disappear after all my builders soaking my physical image with their blood and their followers' blood. I did not figure out an answer. I did not have power to choose my own future, because my future is in the hands of human. But I never thought of hating those men poisoned my beloved Akuira. I was born under human desire of pursuing a better life, I could not blame the desire created me.

At the end, Akuira's student suppressed all the other power. He was elected as Nidaime Kazekage after he executed the conspirers responsible for Akuira's death. People lived inside my psychical shell forgot his real name as fast as forgetting those conspirers once built the architectures they living in. Only I remember he was called Ryu when he was 25 years old.

Ryu forgave most of the followers of the conspirers. At the same time he changed the qualifying standards of Suna shinobi. The shinobi from the tribes have to give up their last name when they are working for me. Still they can claim back their last name after they retired from the service. He also trained a large number of gifted orphans to balance the influences of shinobi tribes inside me.

After the bloody power struggle, the tribes were tire of fighting and losing young men. They finally accepted Ryu's treaty under increasing war portents from the land of Earth. The shinobi tribes are obligated to send volunteers to Suna to attend Genin Test and supported me during war time. And I am obligated to make peace between shinobi tribes, protect business routes and tribal merchants, and help rebuilding tribes suffered from nature disasters or invading wars. There are much more detailed rights and obligations written in the 87 pages Suna Treaty the shinobi tribes signed with me.  
Both Ryu and I know the treaty would break if more benefits than risks to break it. It is called reality.

The turmoil changed Ryu a lot. He believed people want to live harmony with each other because Akuira believed so. After the turmoil, he defied this belief, which led to his teacher's death. The desire of pursuit greater power dictated him at the moment he discovered the truth of Akuira's death.  
Suna, I am not strong enough to protect you.

I always heard him whispered to himself like this when he was alone. I tried countless time to make him believe he is strong enough. He just looked at me silently. I saw my shadow in Ryu's eyes; it is awfully look like Akuira at his 30, the time he first met Ryu. I badly wished to wipe away the warm bitter salt water running down his cheek. I cannot touch him because I never a human. I did not know how to save him neither from the misery of losing Akuira nor from desire to gain more and more dangerous power.

Suna, how can you survive without power?

Ryu questioned me when I opposed his horrible idea of digging into the ominous power of Shukaku.

Suna, the other village would look into the power of biju too. If we did not speed up with the learning progress, we would fall behind.

Suna, there is nothing wrong to use Shukaku to pursuit better living condition for you and your shinobi.

Suna, I am just going to do what Shodai Sama had done.

Ryu turned his youngest child into jinchuriki. I could not stop him, I could not blame him, and I could not save him. I could only watch him walking deeper and deeper into a quicksand named Misery. His child with sapphire colored eyes sunk with him. At the end, the sapphire eyed child surrendered his soul to the monster in exchange of destroying his father and me.

The night Shukaku rampaged inside my psychical shell, I heard a cracking sound named Heart Broken. After paying 20 young lives and hundreds of injuries, Ryu dragged Shukaku into the sealing kettle successfully. He snapped the neck of the boy's dead body. I could not forget the creepy crispy sound of bones fracturing. Ryu walked away with bloody hands, partly with his child's blood, partly with his own blood. The boy's semi-fogged blue eyes presented themselves to this dusty world, there was no tears in them but hate and hopelessness.

Ryu told me he did not regret making his child into jinchuriki. He did not stop finding the right way to manipulate Shukaku. No one but me heard his low, sorrow sobs every time when he was sleeping.

Ryu forever relieved from the misery in the spring of the 41st year of his life. I was glad he finally got a peaceful sleep. He made me hate myself. Why do I have to cause so much pain on others to keep existence? I often asked myself this bitter question. I wonders if Konohagakure asks himself the same question.


	2. Chapter 2

Ryu's student and nephew was elected as his successor before he was gravely ill. After Ryu escaped from me and misery, the beautiful young man became my new Kazekage. People deliberately called him Sandaime Sama or Kazekage Sama, although he preferred to be called as Tsubame. Two month after his Inauguration Ceremony, Sandaime finally gave up correcting what he was called. Only some of his best friends would still call him Tsubame in private environment.

Sandaime Kazekage was elected because he was the strongest and a blood relative of Ryu. It was very irony, Sandaime really had a rough student-teacher relationship with Ryu. He strongly opposed what his teacher had done on his cousin. This talented and wild child used his magnetic chakra to manipulate powered iron so that his junchuriki cousin would feel at least there was someone as "weird" as himself.

Tsubame always tried to save his cousin with Life-long Friendship. However, when my poor junchuriki knew the villagers praised his cousin as a GENIUS and still despised him as a MONSTER, the friendship crashed brutally. My poor junchuriki broke almost every bone in Tsubame's body under great rage surged from jealousy, feeling of unjust and betray. After he awaked for the rage surge and found out his only friend was dying because of him, he sunk in self-hatred. At the full moon night after that incident, my lonely junchuriki surrendered himself to the monster in order to ravager the world that turn him into a monster.

Sandaime never formed a strong bond with me. I thought I was only an obligation or a burden to him. That might be the reason why he could not hear my voice and I could not see my image in his eyes. He did not love me but he had done his obligation. He led me through a war with enough war spoils from other countries and acceptable damage. I had to agree he was a charming leader, even he loved skipping council meetings and flirting his female secretaries with harmless jokes during office hour. His military and politic talents saved him for the seniors' naggings, even though all the old men in the council were afraid he would drown in alcohols or suffocated in women's soft chest. To the old men in the council, as long as Sandaime did not lose his brain on his official duties, everything else were tolerable.

I was glad Sandaime was a happy man, even he never loved me. I felt a little bit lonely when he was my Kazekage. Still, I was glad my Kazekage was not in pain because of me.

May be I am an ominous creature as dangerous as Shukaku. Only the one not in love with me would spear for a misery fate.

So, why should I exist? Why did my Akuira create me?

At that time, I used to talk to myself a lot. From an unknown point, I concluded I am a much evil power than Shukaku. The supporting evidence was Sandaime, who never loved me and had a cheerful life.

Sandaime spent most of his short life in laughing, making others laughs, drinking and flirting young girls. In the five years before his short life end, Sandaime changed most of his chaos personal life for a young child. The child is called Sasori, the only grandson of Chiyo, my first female genin after my psychical shell constructed.

At first, I did not know why Sandaime treated Sasori specially. I understood him after I looked into Sasori's eyes. This young boy with flame colored hair had a pair of lifeless eyes, which are as beautiful as glass, and as cold as glass. Sasori had eyes terrible similar to my sapphire-eyed jinchuriki, Sandaime's cousin died prematurely, had. Sandaime seemed to be expressing his love on his tragic cousin to Sasori. Still, I could never confirm my hypothesis because Sandaime could not see me, feel me or hear me.

I just did not get to know how and when Sandaime and Sasori's pure mentor-mentee relationship twisted into a heartless murder. Sasori was a troublesome and spoiled child. He disappeared from my detecting range at the night when Sandaime asked him if he was related to several missing shinobi cases took place in my psychical shell (I knew he did half of these cases).

Years later, Sandaime's flamed hair mentee came back to my psychical shell. He had found out the way to weaken the magnetic property of iron sand Sandaime used. He tricked his mentor to form an iron shield sphere, then he over heat part of the shield. After some of the iron sand lost its magnetic power and crumbled away, Sasori sent in poisonous gas.

I could not do anything to stop Sasori for taking away paralyzed Sandaime. I could only watch the young flamed hair teenager kissed his mentor's pale lip and told him:

Sandaime sensei, I will help you reach an everlasting beauty. You will be my greatest artwork. Sorry for letting you wait these years.  
At that deadly night, the flame hair creature named Sasori already had had a pair of beautiful cold glass eyes. Although he was not a human anymore, I would still feel something called desire was burning in its wooden framework. I watched the artistic creature carefully carried Sandaime way. He sometimes used his cold wooden lip touch my Kazekage's sweating forehead.

I shouted. No human heard my heart-broken scream.

I grabbed. My hands pass right through the artistic puppet's torso.

My Kazekage struggled with his heartless mentee many times. Every time he struggled, the artistic creature killed a passer-by, who had no idea about the struggle in the darkness. He melt the passer-by with a strange liquid to make sure there were not a thing left for those lives. After the creature killed a couple, a men carrying his pregnant wife on the way to the hospital, my Kazekage suffered a terrible mental meltdown. The beautiful creature preformed a Caesarean section on the wife's lifeless body. He held the child in front of his mentor and asked:

Sensei, do you want this child die?

I did not see Sandaime until the day when Chiyo destroy her own grandson or a puppet possessed her grandson's image.

What is wrong on the earth! I thought I was the one led to the horrible ending of my Kazekages but Sasori destroyed the evidence I used to persuade myself.

It was the first time I tasted the bitterness of hatred. I wanted that creature forever be manipulated since he made himself a puppet.  
But … when and what twisted Sasori into is heartless creature?

His parents died to protect me. So, I killed my Kazekage again.

What an ominous creature I am! I remembered I was created to give a more peaceful living environment for the desert shinobi tribes. But why do the human living inside my shell murder each other or kill the human living outside my shell?

I was emotionally tried. I heard a sharp siren torn this silent but deadly night, someone found out something was not right in my psychical shell. I stared at the shinobi scrambling to their meeting points. They waited in frozen desert night, their Kazekage never showed himself on the speech stage set at the Kazekage Mansion.

At the moment that blood red sun crawl out from the desert, I felt my heart jumped faster than it should be. I felt my body burning but my heart frozen. I passed out into blackness as the same time my shinobi panicked.

Is it the time?


	3. Chapter 3

Things did not come well. As usual, the situation just went worse when people panicked. I suffered tremendous headache for two month after Sandaime's sudden vanishing because the people living inside my shell were frightened. The council divided most of my military force into 3 shifts, which all the people took turns to search for Sandaime so that there were always some people looking for their beloved leader. The scorching sun could not stop them for searching, the freezing night could not stop them for searching. At the end, even a bloody invasion could not stop most of the headstrong young shinobi for wasting their time in the lifeless desert.

All the people living inside my psychical shell were anxious to find their beloved Kazekage. Their anxiety were such huge that I was blind, literally blinded by the anxiety. I remembered the senior council tried to call off the fruitless searching one month after that deadly night. However, this suggestion was opposed by almost all the living-things in my psychical shell. Some young men ever throw stones taped with explosive tags to the windows of the seniors, who advised calling off the search. After one poor old man nearly died from a heart attack due to the humiliating. The council had to continue this fruitless search, even though all the old men in the meeting room hoped all the human in my psychical shell found back their brains in the next second.

However, before my shinobi worn off their unreasonable passion in searching Sandaime, a small shinobi tribe placed at the boundary between the Land of Wind and the Land of River was attacked by shinobi, who were suspected came from Amegakure. I could not response this incident in my usual pace because most of my military power was scattered in this vast lifeless desert. At the time the management level left in the village finally sent out a team made up with 27 shinobi, it was too late. Those 27 shinobi could not save any living-thing. What was left from that tribe was white tents polluted with their masters' blood. The sickening smoke came from burning a mixture of human flesh, leather goods and hay was spread by the wind and blanked the business route near this massacre site. How I was preformed terribly at this incident spread from one tribe to another tribe faster than the smoke.

Even this tragedy could not persuade some of the young men to stop looking for Sandaime. I knew how they thought in their naïve mind—every problem would solve if Sandaime came back. Only I knew Sandaime would never come back but no one could hear my heart-broken cry, no one knew this heart-broken fact. At those chaos days, I could hardly keep myself awake. I was always in pain because all my shinobi were sad and disappointed. The pain would often knocked me into unconscious. Every time I awoke from the unconscious only found out I was a step nearer to my disappearance.

I awoke again from my unknown times of pass out caused by tremendous pain. I could hardly see, move or speak because my shinobi lost their faith in me.  
Maybe it is the time. I thought about my disappearance calmly. I wondered if there is a heaven for me, where I can see Akuira, Ryu and my womanizer Sandaime again. At the moment I was dreaming about my disappearance, I hear a loud but low voice delivering a speech.

We should despise ourselves! Look what we have done these days! Crying for parents just like a little child found his candy dropped on the dirt. Kazekage Sama is missing because we did not do a good job to protect him. Lives were lost because we did not fulfill our promise to our allies.

Right now, Sunagakure is in danger. Iwagakure already has murdered our friends, our comrades, our relatives and our families. And many more shinobi villages will join greedy Iwa to tear our village into piece. What should we do? Crying for help? No one would help us if we do not fight for our lives and our village!

We are responsible to protect our own land! We will protect our own land!

When our Kazekage Sama came back to our Sunagakure, we will tell him we fought for our village bravely and Iwa shinobi were cowards because they could only rob when their neighbor was in trouble!

Right now, I am asking you what we should do when enemies come to destroy our village. What is your answer?

I heard a loud "Fight!" came from all my shinobi. The sound was so loud, it reminded me about a tsunami took place at the coastal area of the Land of Wind. I cried silently, not for my existence but for the brave souls lived on this lifeless land.

The moment I regained my sight and a little strength, I curiously observed my savior, who just delivered a speech full of confident and power. He was hugging the toilet and throwing all the contents in his stomach to the toilet like his pregnant wife or his over-drunk boss. He just not looked like the man who delivered a strong speech but he was the man saved me. Later in the mid of the war, my savior became my Yodaime Kazekage. Oh, my shy Yondaime. He always throws up before and after he delivers a public speech. Only the old men in the council and me knew this cute little secret.


	4. Chapter 4

My Yodaime Kazekage was called Akaiyo before he abandoned this beautiful name and dedicated his body and soul to me. I never knew whether I deserved him or not. He was not my shinobi at the first place.

Akaiyo was a wayfaring priest before he hid some Suna shinobi from their enemies. He was tortured by my enemies. Even though my shinobi stole him from the enemy's jail. He was nearly dead from the torture. He was 8 years old at that time. After healing from the torture he lived with Ryu because Ryu found him a prefect stable conductor of Shukaku's charka. He helped Ryu completed his study on Shukaku. Ryu used to nag about he met Akaiyo too late to me. Akaiyo was too old at that time to be a jinchuriki, and Ryu already had killed his youngest son.

Akaiyo worked as a normal shinobi for me after Ryu died. He became Sandaime's chief assistant after the senior council tried of Sandaime's office scandals with his female assistants. I had to admit it was terrible funny to see Akaiyo digging Sandaime out from the girls and dragging him to council meetings. I just loved to see Sandaime's upset face, especially when he surrendered under Akaiyo's stubbornness.

Akaiyo abandoned his name at the first day he became Yondaime Kazekage in exchange of a stronger bonding between me and him. I was flattered by his dedication, even though I knew I am never that worthy. I always know I am a monster! A monster would always tear what it loved into pieces and eat those pieces. Yondaime helped me went through the darkest time since my existence. And I started to drink his blood, eat his flesh from the point he delivered the speech that saved me.

During the war time, all the nasty things human could do were revealed to this brute world. First, Iwagakure paid Amegakure to destroy that poor tribe to test my response time of an emergency. After I did badly, Iwagakure saw it as an opportunity to redistribute the interests in my hand. The Land of Fire cut my business routes for grain and rice at the same Iwagakure won two battle on the territory of the Land of Wind. The daimyo of the Land of Fire sent Konohagakure to tell me this "unfortunate" decision for "protecting the citizens of the Land of Fire".

So the citizens of the Land of Wind deserve to die in hunger? I asked Konohagakure with a dangerous calm voice.

Hell knew how bad I want to punch Konohagakure that bastard in the face at that moment.

I am sorry. It is Daimyo's decision.

Konohagakure talked to me in a disgusting gentle voice. It was such gentle that I would really love to slice his throat with a knife. Konokagakure tried to hold my hands to show some "sympathy", the thing I never need.

I slapped the hands reaching towards me. I gave him a frozen smiled and told Konohagakure I got the news. I went back to my Yondaime and told him we need to end the war fast before all the people starve to death.

It is impossible with Kirigakure robbing along the Land of Wind's coastal city. Yondaime replied me bitterly. He aged in a horrible speed since he became my Yondaime. I could see ugly ash-grey hair mixed with his shiny auburn hair even he hid the fact carefully. He was only 26 years old.

I tried to touch his hair. My hand pass right through his hair.

Tear ran across my face quietly.

Do not cry, Suna. Everything will be fine. My Yondaime tried to wipe my tear away, his warm hands ran through my body like passing through smoke or fog. He frozen for a second, then he wrapped his arms around me.

Everything will be fine. My Yondaime whispers near my ear with his low but charming voice. I believed him because his voice is confident; because the heat radiating from his body was warmer than the sun.

The next day, one of my brilliant kunoichi named Pakura was sent to make peace with Kirigakure. She never came back. Yondaime made a speech about how she died honorably in the front line between me and Iwagakure. Of course, he threw up severely before and after the speech.

My Yondaime did not show up in the small meeting after the speech. He seldom skips meetings. The seniors thought he was just too tired because he threw up horribly before and after the speech. I found him lying in a bath tub filled with ice cold water. He never did that before because he thought wasting water is a crime.

WHAT ARE YOU DOING! I shouted in terror. I thought he was trying to drown himself.

Nothing. He replied and gave me a fainted smile.

Without Kiri messing the coast line, we can force Iwa to sign a cease fire treaty very soon. My Yondaime looked into my eyes spoke softly.

Kiri would not mess with us when Iwa withdraw its force. It just cost too much to mess with us without Iwa drawing most of our military force. After these two big problems get out from the Land of Wind, we can deal with rest of the robbers at ease.

I told you everything will be fine. Everything will be fine.

I did not pay attention to my Yondaime's explanation. I knew he was explaining to himself; I would disappear long ago if I know nothing about what he was talking about. I watched him rubbing himself with towel and cold water. I watched the towel torturing his skin marked by the torture. He finally stopped torturing himself when all his skin turned to an unhealthy reddish color.

Yondaime. I spoke softly.

Yes.

You are the cleanest human I had even seen.

And I polluted you. I really wanted to shout out this fact but Yondaime stopped me. He stopped me by trying to kiss my forehead. I frozen, not a word came out from my mouth.

I am not. He told me.

God know how much I hate his stubbornness and his "everything will be fine."

Nothing will be fine if I was involved.


	5. Chapter 5

Three days after I signed a cease-fire treaty with Iwagakure, one of my intelligence agent sent back a gloomy news. It seemed that the Wind Daimyo do not want to pay for the pensions of the death because two of his concubines, who came for two large shinobi tribes blamed me for the provocation of this avoidable war.

I received this news from hell with my Yondaime. I spoke nothing to my Yondaime. I had to admit those two beautiful puppets made a point: it was my fault that I presented my weakness in front of my enemy.

I did not blame those shinobi tribes. If I was them, I would definitely pick this time to steal the intermediate joint spot between the political power and the military power.

I just afraid of one thing: How should I tell the brave souls just fought for this country that their Daimyo is considering abandoning them? I was too frightened to think about what a group of disappointed shinobi can do to this badly baffled country.

Akuira, you created me so that no desert-dwelling shinobi tribes would be erased only for a pool of sandy water.

Akuira, you created me because you believed I will stop desert-dwelling shinobi tribes from hurting each other.

Akuira, I failed you.

I failed you.

I never successes in making this desert fill with peace. I was always the reason for the human to fight, to drain their blood vessels, and to trample on the blossoms of life.

Why don't you take me with you, my naughty Akuira? It was you, my beloved Akuira! You put too many precious things in my hand, and everyone wants a piece of me.

I sat in front of a display cabinet in the comfort room next to the Holy Meeting Room. The senior council put some of Akuira's personal things in this display cabinet for them to lament and memorize his honorable life. I stared at Akuira's lute, and I remembered he was a great singer.

Then, I remembered his favorite song when he was still alive:

Oh, my friend, don't cry for me, no,  
My soul is flying with the eagle.  
Please help me to flame my torso,  
Glorify it with a song without sorrow,  
Make it light, make it bright, make it white.  
And wind, wind will take it to my soul,  
So that you will hear me sing outside your window.

I thought about this song again and again. I remembered the bright sparks in Akuira's eyes when he sings this song. I wept and I did not feel tears crawling on my face. The song reminds of the shinobi died for me.

Does Pakura rest in peace now?

Do the souls died for me rest in peace now?

How can they rest when their families are not taken good care?

But I also knew there was not a cent left in my pocket. The war and the search and rescue program for Sandaime ate all my cash and reserves. My shinobi fought for me voluntarily and they ate two meals, only barley, beans and water, per day. I wept again. I did not know how to pay back those brave souls. Wind mixed with sand and gravel pounded the window next to me. I thought it was the angry shout of my shinobi at the first second. Then, I laughed at myself.

I know you are here. I heard my Yondaime's beautiful low voice.

I am sorry. I should stay with you. I replied, tried hard to hide my tears and my sobbing voice.

Never mind. Everything will be all right. My Yondaime spoke softly.

The next day, all the seniors went out to visit my ally tribes, except the three largest one. They came back with a huge amount of loans, which most of them were usurious loans. The principle and the interest of these loans added up to an enormous number that no tribe leaders in the desert, including the Daimyo, wanted me to go bankrupted. Some tribes really wanted to withdraw their principle from me when they hear the total number of loan I got. However, they already signed a contact, which written they had to pay my half of their principle if they wanted to withdraw the principle before the due day for the principle. So most of them just crossed fingers and hoped I did not bankrupt at the next day.

My huge liability discouraged the three largest shinobi tribes a lot. It was just too risky to replace me at that moment. If they replaced me and sat at my position when I had such huge liability, they had to choose between whether paying all of my debts or paying none of my debts. I knew they did not have enough money to pay all the debts; and they did have the gut to offend most of the other shinobi tribes together at the same time. They still had options to pay some of the tribes but not the others, but which tribes should be paid are just too difficult to decide.

So, my domestic competitors would give me a breath until I paid all of the loans.

My Yondaime paid the pensions with the loans. The rest of the loans became my capital. The capital I needed to do some filthy, illegal but enjoyable business.

Even though I signed a cease-fire with Iwagakure, the war did not simply end. The war between me and the Iwagakure was just the prelude of a series of invasions and robs that plagued the whole continent. I did not remember when Konohagakure joined this mess, but I was so glad that bastard was fighting with Iwagakure. To me, there was nothing better than two dangerous rivals that are next to me bleeding to death. I am a monster and I never deny that fact.  
The Land of Fire loved to starve his rivals to death because he was the main exporter of grain and rice. This time, it tried to starve the Land of Earth to death. Everyone knows not all land are created equal. Although the Land of Earth have its name as "Earth", most of his soil is fill with clay, which contains too much moisture that rots plants' roots.

Why are you coming?

Iwagakure asked me. He was covered with blood, dirt and ash. He supported himself with the trunk of a willow tree, which was blackened by fire and smoke.

I did not answer but walked towards him.

What are you trying to do?

Iwagakure took out a Kunai and held it tight. He stared at me. I knew he thought I am going to stab him between his ribs. I gave him a taunting smile. He became even more nervous and prepared to strike me between my eyes.

Sunagakure, we just ceased fire. You do not want your young men bleed again, do you?

Iwagakure asked me slowly. I preferred him add some more threaten tone but he was too tried to do that. I was disappointed, every disappointed. I thought he would last a little longer.

I knocked Iwagakure to the ground and pointed him with the Kunai snatched from him. He struggled but a loud rumbling noise from his stomach made him freeze. I burst into nasty loud laughter while his face turned plum red. I wiped his face clean with my long sleeve and kissed his cheek.

Are you hungery?

I asked with a seductive voice. I did not know I made Iwagakure think about popular folk tales of evil foxes at that moment until he told me.  
I left Iwagakure with a new signed contact about smuggling rice and grain from the Land of Fire to him and he would pay me 4 times higher than the market price (of the Land of Fire) for those grains.

YOU EVIL FILTHY RICH MERCHANT!

I heard Iwagakure shouted at me. He did not have the strength to give me a punch, although both he and I knew he wanted to.

YOU DIRTY UGLY SHEEPISH ROBBER!

I shouted back.

I agreed with most of Iwagakure's description. I was evil and filthy; and I definitely a merchant. However, I was never a rich one. I was never rich enough to satisfy the greediness of human's heart.


	6. Chapter 6

I smuggled all most everything during this relatively short war. I smuggled food from the Land of Fire to the Land of Earth. I smuggled intelligence from the Land of Earth to the Land of Fire. Sometimes, I would try the taste of being a pirate whenever I found Kirigakure and Kumogakure were robbing each other's merchant ship. I waited until them finished their battles, and robbed all the blood soaked spoils away from the winner.

I was laughing heartlessly when I did these nasty things. I did not care about the human from the other villages. I could only remember one thing: I had the responsibility to feed the widows and children left by the dead. I owed those brave souls.

There were only three things I did not smuggle during that chaotic war: addictive drugs, weapons and human. My Yondaime had his dignity and he wanted me to keep my dignity. I knew a branch of Konoha did something related to human trafficking. I wondered if that spoiled "innocent" brat knew how filthy the shadow under his feet was. I believed he know about that and wanted to pretend it never happened.

My Yondaime was talented at making evaluations. He helped me a lot in evaluating the risks and benefits I would get from those you-know-what "investments". Then, he picked the right one for me. His calculated perditions were such precise that they often equal to what I really gained from those filthy "investments".

At the end of this war, I managed to pay all my loans. It was such a mercy that I still had a thousand dollar left in the reserve after I paid for the reconstructions of all the damaged facilities in my psychical shell. I cried loudly with a big smile on my face in front of the statues of my Kazekages for a whole day.

I told you everything will be fine.

At the end of the day, my Yondaime whispered his promise next to my ear under rose-red evening glow. He tried to kiss my forehead, he failed. Still, I could feel his smell, his warmth, and his love. I felt like drunken. However, no wine but only tears had touched my lips. It might be the evening glow, it was as red as finest wine.

My Yondaime smiled at me. Then, he went back to his family. The only thing he always failed in evaluating it.

I followed my Yondaime into his home. He knew I love to follow him; and I knew he would never talk to me when he was with his family. He preferred to draw a clear line between job and family. All of the people living in my shell and me respected his decision.

His wife, Karura, was one of my fearful kunochi before she put a wedding ring on Yondaime-to-be Akaiyo's finger literally. I mean it. I witnessed how Karura proposed to my Yondaime-to-be in the Kazekage's Office. And I did not miss her complain about Akaiyo was so slow that she lost all her patience. Sandaime taunted Akaiyo about this proposal until Akaiyo mentioned the possibility he would be a bachelor forever. It was such a good time.

It was the third time for Karura to get pregnant. Still my Yondaime worried about her because no one on earth knew what an unborn jinchuriki would do to his or her mother. He tried to divorce with Karura before he devoted himself to me to protect her from him and me. He miscalculated his wife's braveness, determination and love to him. He got a big slap on the face from his wife, whose sapphire eyes filled with tears.

I sworn to give you happiness, Akaiyo! How dare you run away from me in this way! I will protect your soul forever. Don't you back away from my love in this way!

My fearful Karura screamed at Akaiyo, showing him her strong soul under her small gentle shell. They kissed. His tongue tangled with her tongue. His tears mixed with her tears. His soul fused with her soul. They never talked about divorce again. Even at the last second before he channeled part of Shukaku's wild charka into the child in her womb.

Karura's love is the only sanctuary my Yondaime had. I like to watch him sleep peacefully on her lap, the only place he would not weep when he fell into a deep sleep. I like to listen to their discussion about the name for the new baby, who would be named by her father if she is a girl or his mother if he is a boy. I like to smell the aroma came out from the pot roast Karura made for her husband because I believed it was the smell of love.

My Yondaime's personal life was such wonderful that it made me forget I am a monster until that devastating day. The day Karura had a miscarriage. No one know whether it was caused by Shukaku's charka or not because the amount channeled to the baby was only for decreasing the rejection between the child and Shukaku.

In the room stuffed with Karura's low painful moan, I watched tremendous amount of blood came out of her tiny body in pale. The nurses changed the blood bags hanging on the IV pole again and again. Everyone loosed track on how many volumes of blood were transfused to this tiny woman who sunk in agony. Karura tried to get some strength from her husband's warm hands. My Yondaime tried to channel his life to her through his hands. Nothing happened except she almost crashed her husband's hands.

Forgive me. Karura, forgive me. My Yondaime whispered, subconsciously

No…Everything …will…fine…Karura repeated her husband's lines. She ordered her husband with face as pale as hers: Repeat…the plan…last…night

My Yondaime started to speak in a chocking voice.

We will have a half dozen of kids.

We will separate them into two shinobi cell.

I will lead one cell and you will lead the other.

We will have a scavenger hunt contest in a windless day.  
…

It was too painful for my Yondaime to speak anymore.

The room went silent again. Only Karura's dying moans and machine's cold beeps could be heard. These two typed of sounds filled every corners of the room and made every human suffer a nasty chill.

Karura continued her fight with the pain of laboring and death. At last, she delivered her last child. The child was so fragile that everyone in the room believed their breath would crash this little creature. Karura looked at her fragile new born. There were so much love in her sapphire eyes that I believed she tried to transfuse all she was left to her fragile new born.

The life monitor made a series of horrify beeps. The Mother knew she ran out of time.

Before she died, she begged the Father to perform "that jutse". The jutse would enable her to protect her fragile child even she died.

Before she completely turned into quartz sand, she tried to speak to the Father but no sound came out from her lips.

I read her lips. It was:

Forgive me, Akaiyo.

I knew my Yondaime could read lips, too.

The room went silent again. Dead silent except the pallid beeping made by the life monitor. My Yondaime kicked that machine from hell. It exploded into thousands of pieces. Semi-transparent clean white quartz sand whooshed up and shielded the fragile child from flying debris.

My Yondaime stood in the Kazekage's Official for the rest of that long cold devastating night. Right at the spot he was standing when his Karura proposed to him. He stood there for the rest of the night, too sad to cry.

No one dared to talk to him for a month. I did not either.

After that night, my Yondaime limited his clothes into two categories: black or black under Kazekage's uniform. Part of he, the part radiating heat warmer than the sun, died with Karura at that long cold devastating night.

I knew I swallowed a part of my Kazekage again.

I swallowed my Kazekage's sanctuary.

No one would shield my Kazekage from me anymore.

I am a monster. I am always a monster.


	7. Chapter 7

Three month after that cold long night, my Yondaime made his youngest child a jinchuriki. I did not know why but I saw a shadow, a sapphire-eyed child with red tears running down his check hugged him, my pale-faced Yondaime, before he stepped into that cursed Sealing Sanctuary. The shadow appeared as fast as the strongest wind in this unforgiving desert. It disappeared in a similar speed it used in its appearance. I knew it was a dark omen.

I begged my Yondaime before he performed the sealing.

You know! You know it would not end well! I shouted. Tears running down my cheek, unstoppable.

Is there any other options. My Yondaime said with a lifeless monotone.

I laughed. It sounded like a wounded hyena. With tears running down my cheek, I laughed like a wounded hyena.

There is no options left for me! No options left for the shinobi living in my dusty shell. I knew it because I am always the weakest one in the Five Great Shinobi Countries. I was kicked out from the bloody battles for interests at the mid of the war. Even though I got some interests by smuggling things during the latter part of the war, I knew the other Four would force me to pay back at the end of the war. The Land of Wind would have to give up a big trunk of its interests for my loose of the war; and I would be the one to sign that treaty from hell.

Why did they not bleed to death during the war?

I thought bitterly. I knew I was daydreaming. Still, I daydreamed about they were weaken to a point that it was impossible to threaten me.

The two bargain chips left in my hand is Shukaku's cursed power and my reserved power, enough to drag one of the villages crumble into pieces with me. They could never save me from losing the interests I held or the Land of Wind held. They could only help me to keep the bottom line of losing the interests.

I knew too well that Wind Daimyo would do to me if I could not keep that deadly bottom line. He had three hyenas waiting in line to stand on this blood soaked position. I did not know how those three hyenas would do to my shinobi. I did not dare to think what they would do to them.

I shut my month. I silently watched my Yondaime, whose face as pale as the tiled limestone floor in the Sealing Sanctuary started the sealing technique. Not a word came out from my lips.

The sealing did not work well. Gaara, my new jinchuriki, was too weak to undertake the tremendous charka flowing through his body during the sealing process. Dark red blood started to bleed from his nose, ears and month at the middle of the process. However, the sealing process had already been at a point where there was no turning back. Stopping the process would yield one result: A huge amount lost-controlled charka erase all the things within 200m radius around it; Shukaku rampages through the Land of Wind until someone drags it back to the sealing kettle.

My Yondaime had to reformulate the seal during the sealing process. He separated the seal, part on his youngest child, the rest on him. I did not know how he succeeded. He did manage to put Shukaku into his fragile youngest child with minimum seal needed to separate the child's soul and Shukaku. At the same time, himself, my pale face Yondaime, became the walking seal of Shukaku.

I watched him enveloped his fragile jinchuriki in his arms. Sparking clean tears dropped on the bloodstains dried on the infant's face, and washed away those ugly dark red marks. A broken man candled his fragile child and went out this cursed room. A broken lullaby echoed in the long dark corridor outside this cursed room.

I did not dare to talk to my Yondaime until the day he left the village to the Kage Summit. I did not dare to look into my Yondaime's eyes until the day I went to the Kage Summit with him.

It was not your fault. My Kazekage told me when he tried hard to remember the lullaby his Karura used to put their naughty girl and energetic boy to sleep. Gaara was crying in his father's arms. He was still unable to cry loudly as his brother and sister did. His cries sounded like a new born kitten was meowing.

It was not your fault. I repeated my Kazekage's line. So, that is wrong on the earth.

Well, every ant fights for its survival. Yondaime signed. He kissed his youngest child on the forehead. Then, he told his boy: You did a great job, Gaara.

There was so much love in my Yondaime's eyes. I would never believe they would swear to kill each other at that moment.

I did not like the Kage Summits. How Akuira died right after attending the first Kage Summit left an unhealable wound on my heart. Besides, Iwagakure, that jerk, just enjoys molesting me during every Kage Summits. At the same time, Konohagakure, that spoiled brat, just cannot stop babbling nonsenses to me during every Kage Summits.

I hoped to go back to my unforgiving desert before I even saw the meeting place.

Sunagakure, I have not seen you for a long time.

A low male voice sounded behind me. I felt two nasty hands moving between my waist and hip.

Iwagakure, is there any problem with the papers I signed with you?

I replied calmly, ignoring Iwagakure's hands.

No. Iwagakure answered. He locked my waist with his muscular date-colored arms. He rubbed his chin and kissed me on the back of my neck. Then, he said: Sunagakure, you smell so nice. I love the smell of "black gold" came from you.

You know how much one barrel of my "black gold" is now! Pay the price and you will have it.

I answered impatiently. Hell knew how much I want to stab him between his ribs.

Sunagakure, you mysterious creature. I always wonder how you can exist in that place filled with only sand.

Iwagakure licked and sucked the spot right under my chin. His hands moved funnily again around my chest but not the waist. He whispered next to my ear: I long for you. I want to know when you will be mine.

You know how it will end.

I replied with a freezing voice.

I know. I know. I know you will choose to run to the lifeless desert and bite my throat when I let my guard down. You fearful wolf.

We were enemy. We knew each other all too well.

You opportunism bear. You just cannot let go anything you can steal or rob from your neighbors, can you?

Do not act like you never robbed me. I would never forget those rice and grains, as well as those intelligence.

I snorted. I gave him a cold smile. He smiled back, showing off his white teeth. He licked his low lips.

We should enjoy this moment. The moment we cannot stab each other. The moment we do not have to stab each other.

Iwagakure suggested. He pressed his lips on to mine. A strange warmth passed from his lips to my lips.

We all know how much we want to stab each other. I know you plan to strike and you are planning to strike.

You are right.

We are enemy. So we knew each other all too well.


End file.
